Feeding shells to the shuttle.



F. R. HAMMITT"& G, B. STANLEY. FEEDING SHELLS TO THE SHUTTLE. APPLICATION FILED 0GT.23,1909

989,778; Patented Apr. 18, 1911.

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'F. R. HAMMITT & 0. B. STANLEY FEEDING SHELLS TO THE SHUTTLE.

APPLICATION FILED 001.28, 1909.

Patented Apr. 18,1911

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//VI/E/ V70R8 ATTORNEYS OIKIIIIIIIIIL WITNESSES: Q fiMffg-iz FL R. HAMMITT-& 0. B. STANLEY. FEEDING SHELLS TO THE SHUTTLE.

APPLIUATiON FILED 0OT.23, 1909.

989,778. I Patented Apr. 18,1911.

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W/ TN'SSES: /N VENT 0R3 of this specification.

E -UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIo FRANK n. HAMMITT AND CHARLES B. STANLEY, or PAULSBORO, NEW JERSEY, AS-

srenons T0 E. I. no Ponce 1m NEMoUns rownnn company, OFWILMINGTON, DELAWARE-,"AFGORPORATION or NEW mess FEEDING SHELLS To THE SHUTTLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 18, 1911.

Application filed October 23, 1909. Serial No. 524,099.

To all'whom z' t'may 00mm.-

Be 1t known that we, FRANK R. 'HA MITT and CHARLES E. STANLEY, citizens of the United; States, both residing at Paulsboro,

county of Gloucester, and State of New J er sey, have: invented a new and useful Iniprovement in Feeding Shells to the Shuttle,

-of which the following is a full, clear, and" exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part Heretofor'e it has been the custom to-feed the shells into the shuttle singly, the shells for any given orifice being fed independently of the shellsfor any other orifice.

It is the object of our invention to fill a shuttlesirnultaneo'usly with theshells.

The shells are. initially fed into a shell holder which is a permanent part of the machine, and which shell holder is pivoted so that it can be swung to deliver the shells into their corresponding shuttle. In our improved construction the shells are placed in a hopper from. which they descend into a receiver which is adapted to hold the shells "-in'numbers and position with reference to each other. corresponding with that of the shuttle. Thus shells so received into the I receiver are simultaneously forced from the "receiver into the shell holder.

rangement in one operationa plurality of shells are simultaneously delivered from the receiver into the shell holder, which shellv holder will deliver them into the shuttle.

a 1 'WG will now describe the embodiments of our?" invention as shown in the accompanyl'drawmgs, in Wh1chure 1 ma general side elevation of the niac hi n'. Fig.2 is a detail end view of the plunger or plunger fingers.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional View of the machine. Fig; 4 is a'detail sectional View on the line Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5+5, Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a view of the entrace end of a' shell holder. Fig. 7'is a plan view of the shell holder. Fig. 8 is a .view of the exit end of the shell holder. Fig. 9 is a detail view of the operating valve in section. Fig. 10 is an elevation of a detail ofthe machine.

a 1'3 a cage in which the shells to be placed in thje shell holder, and thus into the shuttle, 1d, 'lheicage rests upon the ledge Z) By this arof the machine, beneath or extending from which is the inclined bottom a. At the open The shell holder f, as shown, has four. vertical compartments, the central ones of which are arrangedto hold four shells each, and the outer ones three shells each. The

receiving chamber 0 has open ends, one end being in llne with the plunger or plungerfingers and the other end in line with the channel leading to the shell holder.- This opening is of such height that the two inner sections or divisions of the receiving chamber will deliver four shells and the two outer ones will deliver three shells. In line with the two outer divisions of this chamher are the plunger fingers g which are of depth equal to three shells, while the two inner plunger fingers h,jwhich are in line with the central divisions of the shell receiver, are of depth sufiicient to extend over four shells.

Leading from the open end of the shell receiver opposite to the plungerlingers are the channels 2. These channels have the division walls as shown in section, Fig. 5.

In each of these channels'are inclined ledges or ways j corresponding inv number to the shells that are to pass through the channels;

clined run-ways are formed from metal,

sheets bent into angular sections and se-- cured to the walls of the channels.

The purpose of this is two-fold: one, to widen out and separate the various layers of shells and space them correctly forthe shell holder, and further, to prevent them fromabrading the shell holder.

The plunger fingers are caused to r'ecip rocate, and 1n their reciprocatlon 1n one direction force the shells in the: receiver out of the receiver into the channel, the length of 'the'reciprocation being just sul'licient-v to.v force the set of shells in the receiver. out

of the receiver and into thechannel. When the piston is returned, a new set of shells will I In order to insure with certainty that only the proper number drop into the receiver.

- posed shells.

of shells will be forced out of the receiver,

and that the shells above such shells will not be affected by the action of the fingers, the upper ends of the fingers are beveled slightly, as shown at k, in order to prevent their catching on the edges of the superim- This produces, however, a slight difliculty, in that at the forward end of the movement of the plunger a slight space will be formed, which might enable the inactive shells lying just above to descend at that point and'b'e abraded or affected. In order to prevent this, we form on the lower portion of the fingers a cam Z which, at the forward end of, the stroke of these fingers, strikes the lug m, elevating the finger-at that point, and preventing this result. On the return of the fingers, as before described, a new set of shells will fall into the shell receiver or into the channels oftheshell receiver. It should be here stated that the en trance into the channels a is slightly flared to insure proper entry of the shells. The continuance of this operation will gradually move the first mentioned set of shells forward along the channel until they are received into the shell receiver. Of course, the length of the channel between the shell receiver and the shell holder is such as to receive only a complete number of shells.

The pivoted divisions d are oscillated in the following manner. The upper ends of these divisons d are pivoted to bars 11. which in turn are connected by slide 0 with the cam-faced bar 7), which passes through an orifice in the slide 0. This bar- 39 is given a "reciprocating vertical movement by mechanism not shown, and which may be any appropriate mechanism, such, for instance, as shown in an application filed by Howard A. Stillwell March 19th, 1908, Serial No. 422,180. At the lower ends these divisions are pivoted to the frame, and by means of their oscillation the shells Q are caused to be delivered from the hopper bottom 0 to the receiving chamber 6.

The shell holder f is secured to brackets 22 whichare pivoted to the frame of the machine at 23, so that it may assume a vertical position,- as shown in full lines, Fig. 1, or a horizontal position as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1. lVhen the shell holder is in the .position shown in the dotted lines, the shuttle corresponding to this shell holder is placed beneath it and-the shells drop therein by gravity. We will now describe the mechanism by which the fingers are reciprocated and the shell holder tilted or moved from a vertical to a horizontal position and the mechanism by which these operations are properly timed with respect to each other.

.The fingers g and h are carried by the head 1'. At each side of thehead are pivoted the rods .9. Eachof these rods is connected 'plished by the following mechanism.

to a lever t. Each of these levers is loosely pivoted, as shown, at u to' the frame of the machine. Midwayof the length of lever t is a pin a; which connects the two levers and also passes through the piston rod w. This piston rod has at one end a piston head a:

'actuating'the plunger to push shells from the shell receiver. On the other hand, when the valve is turned so that the pipe 2 connects with the exhaust, the piston head 2, being always connected with the air pressure, becomes effective and returns the fingers.

The shell holder is tilted in the following manner. The brackets 22, to which it is connected and by which it is ivoted, are

connected with the rods 5 which are connected to lever G on the shaft 7. Upon this same shaft is an arm 8 connected to the piston rod 9 operated by the piston in the cylinder 10. 11 is a pipe leading to one end of the cylinder 10, and 12 is a pipe leading to the other end of the cylinder. 13 is a valve box controlling the admission of-air orexhaust to the pipes 11 and 12. 14 is the air inlet, 15 is the exhaust from pipe 12, and 16 ,the exhaust from pipe 11. When the valve is in the position shown in Fig. 9, air will enter through pipe 11 to the lower portion of cylinder 10, elevating the rod and bringing the shell holder to the position shown in Fig. 1. The. air in pipe 12 under these conditions exhausts out at 15. hen the valve is reversed, the air enters the pipe 12 and exhausts from pipe 11 through the opening 16. Under these conditions, the piston in the cylinder 10 moves in the opposite direction, tilting the shell holder to the position shown in dotted lines.

The correlation of the parts so that the fingers shall not be reciprocated except the shell holder be in the proper position 'to receive the shells from the channels, is accomthe shaft 7 is the arm 17 which, in its move ment, is in line with .the plunger 18 of the.

valve 24. 'hen this shaft 7 is in the position shown in full lines, Fig. 1, the arm 17 will strike the plunger 18 and depress it, opening the pipe 2 to the air pressure, and the fingers, through the medium of the pis ton a: will be moved forward to force. the shells from the receiver. \Vhen the valve controlling the cylinder 10 is operated to 65 said fingers.

tilt the shell holder, in dotted line position, the arm 17 Will move. away from the plunger 18, and the spring in the .valve elevates 1O .Wlll strike the valve 24, tilting it and movingthe plunger 18 from under the arm 17. This occurs at the end of the travel of the arm, and therefore the end of the movement of the fingers. IV hen this occurs the plun- 15. ger 18 Will move upward, exhausting the air from the pipe 2 and thereby relieving the pressure in the cylinder 1 and the pisston .2 will actto return the fingers. In this return movement a spring 20 will cause the 20 valve 2t'to tend to return to its initial position, and if the shell holder has not been moved, it will be caught by thearm 17 and the fingers will no longer act until-the shell holder is operated. If, on the other hand,

the valve-box 13 has been operated or is operated to tilt the shell holder, the arm 17, will move upward which will allow the'valve to return to its initial position, and upon the return ofthe shell holder to its vertical '30 position the arm 17 will force the plunger down, again admitting pressure to the cylinder y. By this construction, as may be seen, the fingers can only .moveforward after the shell holder has been tilted to a horizontal position and returned, and thereby it is impossible to force more shells in the shell holder on its return. i

On the outer side of the shell holder is a shutter21 which is slid to close the mouth 40 of the orifices or channels during the tilting operation.

Having now fully described our invention, what we claim and desire to protect by Letters Patentisr- 1. In an apparatus of the character described, in combination, a shell holder hav-' ing divisions, a receiver having a plurality ,of divisions, arranged correspondingly to their position in the shell holder, channels equal in number :to the divisionsin the shell holder directly connecting the divisions in the receiver and holder, and means to simultaneously force the shell from all the divisi'ons in the receiver into the channels;

'2. In an apparatus of theoharacter de scribed, in combination, a' shell holder having divisions, a receiver having a plurality "of divisions, arranged correspond ngly to their position in the shell holder, lehannels equal in number to the divisions inithe shell holder directly connecting the divisions in the receiver and holder, fingers correspond vfing to all the divisions 111 the reqe tiyer, and means to simultaneously recipropitte all of equal in number to the divisions in the shell tween said divisions.

receiver, means to feed a set of shells, cor

In an apparatus of the character descr be h m combination, a shell holder having divisions, a receiver having a-plurallt-y of. divisions, arranged correspondingly to their position in the shell holder, channels holder directly connecting the divisions in the receiver and holder, a cage above said receiver, means to feed a set of shells,corre sponding to' the divisions in the receiver,

. from said cage into said receiver, and means.

to simultaneously force the shells from all the divisions in the receiver into the channels.

at. In an apparatus of the character described, in combination, a shell holder having divisions, a receiver having a pluralityof divisions, arranged correspondingly to. their-position in the shell holder, channels equal in number to the divisions in the shell holder directly connecting the divisions in the receiver and holder, a cage above said receiver, means to feed a set of shells, corresponding tothe divisions in the receiver, from, 'saidcage into said receiver, means to simultaneously force the shells from all the divisions in the receiver into the channels,

and feed another set of shells to proper position in the receiver.

5. In an apparatus of the character described, in combination, a shell holder having divisions,,a receive-r having a plurality of divisions, arranged correspondlngly to their position in the shell holder, channels equal in number to the divisions in the Shell holder directly connectin the divisions in the receiver and bolder, ngers of different lengths, and means to simultaneously recip rocate said fingers through said receiver be- 6. In an apparatus of the character'described, in combination, a shell holder having divisions, a receiver having a plurality of divisions, arranged correspondingly to their position in the shell holder, channels equal in number to the divisions in the shell holder directly connecting the divisions in the receiver and holder, a cage abovev said I responding to the divisions in the receiver, from said cage into said receiver, fingers of different lengths, and means to simultaneously reciprocate said fingers through said receiver between said divisions. I

7. In an apparatus of the character described, in combination, a shell holder having divisions, a receiver having a plurality of divisions, arranged correspondingly to their position inthe shell holder, channels equal in number to the divisions in the shell holder directly connecting the divisions in the receiver and holder. the movement of said fingers in one direction forcing all of the shells in the receiver from the receiver into the channels and'in the other direction '13() allowing a set of shells to pass from the cage to the receiver.

8. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with the cage, the receiver, theshell holder and channels connecting the; receiver and shell holder, of

fingers fol-forcing the shells from the receiver into, the channels, said fingers having beveled upper ends and means to elevate the forward end of the fingers in the forward movementof said fingers.

9. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with the .cage, thereceiver, the shell holder and channels con- 11. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with the cage, the receiver, the shell holder and channels connecting the receiver and shell holder, each the shell holder, a valve for controlling the admission of pressure to and exhaust from the swinging of the shell holder.

channel having inclined ways, said ways being formed of angular metallic sections secured to the walls of the channel.

12. The combination with the receiver, a hinged shell holder and channels connecting the receiver and holder and fingers for simultaneously forcing a set of shells from the receiver into the channels, of means to reciprocate the fingers, means to tilt 'the shell holder, and controlling mechanism to hold the fingers in their retracted position during 13. The combination with the receiver, a hinged shell holder and channels connecting the receiver and holder and fingers for forcing the shells from the receiver into the channels, a piston, and connection between said piston and the shell holder for tilting opposite sides ofsaid piston, two pistons of different area, a constant source of pressure to'the piston of smaller area and a valve controlling the admission of pressure to and exhaust from the piston of larger area, and means to maintain said last mentioned valve in position to connect the piston with the exhaust during the tilting of the shell holder andconnected with the pressure when the shell holder is in receptive position.

14. The combination with the receiver, a hinged shell holder and channels connecting the receiver and holder and fingers for forcing the shells 'from the receiver into the channels, a piston, and connection between said piston and the shell holder for tilting the shell holder, a valve for controlling the admission of pressure to and exhaust from spring acting to hold said last mentioned valve to connect the piston with the exhaust, an arm movable withthe shell holder tilting mechanism and adapted to strike said valve and move it against said spring when said shell holder is in receptive position.

15; The combination with the receiver, a hinged shell holder and channels connecting the receiver. and holder and fingers. for forcing the shells from the receiver into the channels, a piston, and connection between said piston and the shell holder for tilting the shell holder, a valve for controlling the admission of pressure to and exhaustfrom opposite sides of said piston, two istons of diflerent area, a constant source 0 pressure to the piston of smaller area and a tilting valve controlling the admission of pressure to and exhaust from the piston of larger area, a spring normally holding said tilting valve in vertical position, a spring acting to hold said valve to connect the piston with the exhaust, an arm movable with the shell holder tilting mechanism and adapted to strike said valve and move it against said spring when said shell holder is in rece tive psoition, an arm connected to said nger reciprocating mechanism adapted, in the forward movement of said mechanism, to strike and tilt said valve to move it awa from said arm movable with the shell holder tilting mechanism.

16. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with the receiver and shell holder having compartments, correspondingly arranged, and channels directly connecting the compartments of the receiver and shell holder, of means to simultaneously force the shells from all of the compartments in the receiver into the channels.

17. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with the receiver and shell holder havin compartments, correspondingly arrange and channels directly connecting the compartments of the receiver and shell holder, of reciprocating means to simultaneously force the shells from all the compartments in the receiver into the channels. I

18. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with' the receiver and shell holder having compartments, correspondingly arranged, and channels directly connecting thecompartments of the receiver and shell holder, fingers eorrespondhereunto set our hands, at Paulsboro, onthis .ing in length to the receiver compartments, 19th day of October, 1909.

and means 'to reciprocate said fingers 1:0 FRANK R. HAMMITT. 7

simultaneously force the shells from all of CHARLES B. STANLEY. 5 the compartments in the receiver into the lVitnesses: 4

channels. W. G. OOWGILL,

In testimony Of which invention, we have EDWARD S. MAYEns. 

